Republican senators and Downing Street rebuke Witkoff for calling Putin a ‘humanitarian’ as Russia strikes Kyiv

US special envoy Steve Witkoff is facing bipartisan outrage in Congress after he praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as a humanitarian^12,14. Several Republicans, including Senators Thom Tillis, John Cornyn and Joni Ernst, joined the criticism¹². Senator Shaheen, the ranking member, compared Putin’s tactics to Hitler’s¹⁴.

The British government on 22 October firmly rejected Witkoff’s description of Putin¹¹. Downing Street said Russia was responsible for the war⁵. Television host Brian Kilmeade called the compliment “embarrassing” and said it made Witkoff look “naive”¹³.

Witkoff told Putin during their meeting in St Petersburg: “You are a humanitarian … I salute that”². The praise came as Russia released a detained American whom Russian prosecutors had accused of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine^1,8. Witkoff had landed in St Petersburg on Wednesday morning, a Kremlin aide confirmed, and met Putin in one of the city’s grand imperial palaces^8,9. Trump on Wednesday seconded his envoy’s description of Putin⁷.

Why it matters to investors

Hours after the meeting, Russia dropped cluster warheads on Kyiv³. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the deadly strikes showed “no change” in Russia’s attitude to the war¹⁰. Kyiv reported seven dead, while Russia said it destroyed 808 Ukrainian drones¹⁵. The deadly strikes came just hours after Putin told Witkoff that his country was ready to resume trilateral talks¹⁰. Russia bombarded Ukraine after the envoy hailed Putin as a humanitarian⁹.

Putin, interviewed on Russian television a day after meeting Witkoff, confirmed that Russia was ready to resume talks⁶. He said talks must focus on security for Russia, Ukraine and Europe overall⁶. Putin agreed to resume US-mediated trilateral peace talks with Ukraine, with a target of mid-November¹⁵.

The Republican backlash over Russia policy poses a challenge for Trump in Congress⁴. Congressional resistance and a fresh Russian attack both bear on the prospects for the peace process^3,4. Several Republicans have now broken with the administration’s tone on Putin, and Trump has to manage that dissent in Congress^4,12.

What to watch

The next marker is whether the trilateral talks start in mid-November as planned¹⁵. Putin’s demand that they cover security for Europe as a whole sets a wider agenda than a Ukraine-only settlement⁶.

In Washington, the question is whether the Republican criticism turns into action in Congress on Russia policy^4,12. Trump has so far backed Witkoff’s description of Putin⁷, while Britain has rejected it¹¹.